Jacob Restaurant

I love eating the food at Jacob’s. Of course I have my favorite dishes — corn bread, mash potatoes, okra, kale, jerk chicken, fried fish, grilled fish, mac n cheese, short ribs, bbq ribs, and some others. There are many more to try.
And in the cold salad bar — Greek salad, green bean salad, mixed fruit, avocado salad, and garden salad.
I find it a pleasant place to get food and sometimes we eat in and other times take it home to eat. But it never disappoints.
And there are so many other dishes to choose from as well!
For dessert there is always individual sized peach cobbler, sweet potato pie, bean pie, red velvet cake, chocolate cake, and some other choices.

Delicious, real Harlem soul food. Everyone is nice, and there was an awesome band playing live music. A must when you’re in Harlem!

Oh my god, delicious. And dangerous, food weighed by the pound adds up. Try everything except the fried chicken, which was yummy but nowhere near as good as the ham, salmon, scrumptious beef thing, etc. You get the point.

I consistently love this place. I’m from the South, and when I used to live close by, Jacob was my go to when I felt like I needed a reminder of home with a little Caribbean kick. The jerk chicken, collard greens, baked mac, and turkey and stuffing are my favorites.

I love the food and the pricing is fair but don’t do card transactions cause I don’t know how I ended up paying $ 18 when my receipt says $ 15.

This restaurant is a buffet so every food is charged by lb. The foods are cheap as well as delicious. There are meats, seafoods and vegetables that you can choose.

I enjoyed my dinner. I stumbled upon this restaurant late at night, and I must say the food was good, and fresh. The flavors were genuinely soul…
It was a bit nerve wrecking that the staff was cleaning up, putting up chairs and mopping as I was eating my meal. This made me feel a bit rushed.
Yes, I will go again if in the area.

Soul Food At Its Finest Reommend To Anyone Who Wants To Try Something Different. Finger Licking Good.

the food is OK. Some dishes are a hit or a miss, depending on the time of day you are coming in.

This was hands down the best soul food I have ever had in my life. It’s only $ 5 a pound for some delicious classics. I highly recommend the black eyed peas.

This place is heaven on earth (or hell on earth, depending on how much you end up gorging yourself). It’s just close enough that I can walk there and just far enough that I wouldn’t go every single night. If you are looking for a soul food place that has a good mix that you can pick and choose from, Jacob Restaurant is the place for you (BTW, it’s just «Jacob» and not «Jacob’s.» If anyone knows why that is, please educate me).
I came here a couple times but this is the first time I’m writing a review. I brought a friend with me who helped me move into my new apartment and we stacked up on food. It came out to be about 4lbs worth and the total bill was around $ 21. They do accept credit/​debit cards now with a minimum of $ 5 purchase. The cost per pound is $ 5.49, which I think is a huge steal, especially if you just load up on the protein.
Ox Tail: Really delicious and fall-​off-​the-​bone tenderness. The sauce that they come in was also amazing.
BBQ Pork Ribs: Pretty standard. Not bad, but not great either. Still, I enjoyed them and would definitely get them again.
Brisket: Ughhh so delicious and mouth watering. The meat was done well where it was very tender, because a lot of places mess up the brisket and dry it out. Not here though. Definitely recommend it if it’s available.
Curried Goat: A little dryer and tougher than the other meats, but that’s the nature of goat meat, so not going to hold it against the chef. The spices on the curry were really well done and gave it the nice kick that the other meats lacked
Mashed Potatoes: excellent. Tasted like they were marinated in butter though. Not that I mind.
Lima beans and Turkey Neck: got this in accident, but it was great. The broth especially was really good.
All in all, this place is a total bargain. I always end up getting like 2 lbs of food and hating myself afterwards. But the good kind of hating.

The food is okay. It’s hard to reach some of the items. The Mac n Cheese is a no no. The collard greens need some kick. The short ribs are good. The shrimp and vegetable rice looks questionable. The shrimps didn’t look clean. They were not deveined. The corn looked dumoed straight out of a can. Are those mashed potatoes real? The green beans looked like they gave seen better days. The cakes are dry as the Shara Desert! For the money I spent I could have gone elsewhere. Just because they have an A in the window it doesn’t mean they are clean.
Update:
I called back about the cake because it really bothered me that they were so dry. The girl that answered the phone was rude. She didn’t know the return/​exchange policy and didn’t seem to care.
**So hear and understand. Cakes should never be refrigerated because it drys them out!!***

I was visiting a friend and saw she didnt live far from this spot so in we went. The restaurant is small and definitely a take out spot. The selection wasnt as big as I expected but what they did have looked delicious. As soon I walked in I smelled so many yummy flavors. The price per pound is fair an you can sample a little of everything which I did. They had two buffet stands one with the salads and fruits that I didnt give a second glance and the main one with all the soul food goodies. I enjoyed all of my food from the piece of rib, mac n cheese, lima beans, yams, baked and fried chicken, plantains and turkey wings everything was delicious. I most definitely will return when I am in the neighborhood.

Hmmm…
I wanted to like this place. And I’ve had a filling meal there, but it’s just all a bit underwhelming.
Cornbread dry & too sweet (I know). Fried chicken soggy. Greens gone bitter. Onion in the oxtail gravy crispy.
The food’s good, but not great. It’s not really any cheaper than anywhere else– though it is open late — but not worth breaking down over a buffet to go, methinks.
Right. It’s late and I should sleep.

It’s a simple buffet with some seating, nothing spectacular!

Here’s my Jacob’s strategy: literally scoop a few mouthfuls of everything from the hot bar into your sexy styrofoam container. It’s really good, classic soul food and your best bet is to try a little bit of all they’ve got to offer. You may not love everything, so it’s a perfect way to experience it all while still being satisfied. I love the hot buttered corn, mashed potatoes, fried chicken, oven roasted chicken, brisket, ribs, fried rice, collard greens. It’s all. so. good. Leave the tiny side cups for stuff from the cold bar, like fresh fruit and salad. Don’t go too crazy, otherwise you’re going to leave with about 5 lbs of food and about $ 35 less in your wallet. Not that I’ve ever done that…
People who work there are wonderful. They don’t make fun of me when my glasses fog up from the steamy soul food goodness. Cash only baby.

This place has a a decent buffet with many hot and cold options. The food is weighed, so keep that in mind. If you’re an omnivore, who doesn’t mind meat in your veggies, there are lots of hot vegetable options like collards and black eyed peas. If you’re a vegan, good luck — looks like salads are your only option.
I am giving this place a 4 because all the food, including the meat, was nicely presented and the buffet was clean. I selected from the cold section: green salads, olives and fruit. Most of the green salads are dressed with vinaigrette. There are some traditional soul food salads like potato and macaroni. They also had Asian styled snow peas, which were tasty.
There is a seating area in the back with 2 and 4 person tables. There are TVs, free water and a unisex bathroom.

You know what Hall and Oates would say? «Baby you have… everything your heart desires… so why you want more?»
Everything your heart desires of a soul food inspired hot buffet galore, that is.
Smothered Turkey wings, baked macaroni and cheese, yams, collard greens, fish, baked chicken, cold pasta salads, jello, cornbread, rice, oxtails, BBQ chicken wings, Cesar salad, banana pudding, cakes, soups.
Some of the stuff looks great… but then other dishes have you thinking…“Am I the only one who ever buys this red jello… This looks like the same exact tray that was in here a week ago…” Hmmm, think again. Buffets are always iffy.
The smothered turkey wings are good. But everything else just seems a little bit too indulgent. Too cheesy, too salty or like it’s covered in an overcoat of grease.
I’ll tell you why I want more. Jacob, you’re too dang expensive. $ 11 a pound? I might as well go to an actual restaurant. Plus, every time I walk by or in this place, someone tries to panhandle me for money.
They do have seating in the back. The cashier is friendly. And the end of the day though, I’m just not a buffet loving gal.

What? Soul Food by the pound? I’m down.
Nice self service atmosphere with a wide selection. I LOVED the collard greens (made with turkey for flavor) and the mac n cheese was great. Out of the sampling of food that I got nothing was disappointing and I would go back next time I am craving soul food.

I’ve been going to Jacob Restaurant since they opened with a wave of fanfare that included a ribbon cutting ceremony by Jesse Jackson and the Rainbow Push Coalition in the spring of 2010. Jacob’s, under its Senegalese owner offers a variety of Southern Soul food and Caribbean dishes as a self –service buffet. In addition, there is a buffet with healthy salads and fruits. Depending on when you come here though, the food will be either a two, three, or four star dining experience. So for that reason, I’ve been reluctant to review Jacob for a while now. And it is also one of the main reason that I do not dine here frequently.
However, fortunately for Jacob and thanks to an online Google Offer I used, I would have to rate my last meal as a four star one.
A meal that included the following hot buffet items:
–Jerk chicken (hot and devilishly spicy with a real smokey flavor). My favorite.
— Curried goat (Ok, but could have been cooked more tender)
— Mac & cheese (real cheesy and always good whenever I order it)
— Crab cakes (super-​sized and tasty, but could do without so much added filler)
–Jamaican rice and peas (excellent!)
— Lima beans cooked with smoked turkey necks (excellent!)
— Okras and tomatoes (very good)
— Sweet potato yams (sprinkled with sweet raisins for an added treat). Good!
Now for the other reason I do not dine here frequently. When given a choice, I will almost always decide to dine in rather than take out at a restaurant, however at Jacob’s this poses a problem. Because the food at the hot buffet is almost always kept too cold to dine in and enjoy a hot meal, I am forced to take it home for reheating. As a result this limits my visits here to when I feel like eating take out at home.
I’m told that the owner of Jacob Restaurant named the restaurant after his father, Jacob. So as any good father who would want the best for his son would do… I am taking a moment to give him a small dose of tough love. Be consistent with the food preparation quality and always serve it hot, so that I can give you a four star rating soon.
Also, please, please bring back the Dirty Rice (chopped chicken livers with cooked rice). I love it!